A gun fanatic wanted for butchering two Mormon mis

A gun fanatic wanted for butchering two Mormon missionaries in Texas could remain in the UK until Christmas, a court heard.

Wheelchair-bound Robert Elmer Kleasen, 69, is accused of sawing up the bodies of Mark Fischer, 19, and Gary Darley, 20 in his trailer.

Russell Tyner, a CPS lawyer acting for the US Government, said that under the ’60 day rule’ the American authorities have a final deadline of December 21 to serve papers for Kleasen’s extradition.

Kleasen, who has a long white beard and spectacles was sitting in a wheelchair during the five minute hearing at London’s Bow Street Magistrates Court.

He is due to reappear at the court on 26 November when Mr Tyner said the court may be in a position to fix a date for a full extradition hearing.

The two missionaries were last seen alive on October 28, 1974 having a meal in Kleason’s trailer in Austin Texas.

A search of the taxidermists shop where Kleasen worked as a cleaner uncovered blood traces and hair on a saw.

Kleasen served two years on death row for Mr Fischer’s murder but the conviction was overturned.

A search which uncovered Mr Fischer’s blood stained watch and a missionary name tag pierced by a bullet was ruled to have been illegal.

Since then Mr Darley’s DNA has been found on clothing found in a bin outside the caravan.

Kleasen came to the UK in 1990 and was later convicted of amassing an arsenal of firearms at his home in Whitecross Street, Barton in Humberside.

After serving three years in jail he was re-arrested for the US matters after his release from Rye Hill prison near Rugby on October 22.

The killings are said to have partly inspired the 1974 film horror film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

ends